Review: Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers

Words: Nicky Short

Every day’s a J5 day

When the bass riff from the last track of their previous album, Quality Control comes through your speakers on the first track of Power in Numbers, it’s as if Jurassic 5 just picked up where they left off as they launch into this hip hop hero of an album, which fires up your funk glands and stimulates your soul.

Each track works as a stand-alone gem, from head boppers with grimy, heavy bass lines in What’s Golden, nasty badass aggression on One of Them to catchy, almost anthemic choruses on Break and I am Somebody. A showcase of blistering verbal dexterity from all the lyricists in the crew not to mention a special appearance from Big Daddy Kane on A Day at the Races proves they could all still last a few rounds in a battle and leaves listeners a bit dizzy.

Producers Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark make a welcome return to form. The beats are slick and inventive - check out the flute on If you only knew, who would have thought? - but maintain J5’s signature nostalgic funk style reminiscent of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. The MCs leave the production team alone to demonstrate their skills on React and Acetate Prophets, letting them loose to rock the decks and samplers, unencumbered by raps. Throughout the album is a consistent laid back vibe with retro beats, cuts, scratches, samples and breaks and for the lyric analysts there are razor sharp rhymes and sentiments beneath the sound surface.

“We’re not ballin’ or shot callin’, we take it back to the days of yes-yallin,’’

Conscious, honest and aware without being pretentious, this album covers content as diverse as politics, race, gangster rap, friendship and love - particularly on Thin Line, featuring a hook from Nelly Furtado - unexpected but it works, and death in Remember his Name, a track that takes you on a journey with a clever little twist.

Charli 2na, “the verbal Herman Munster” is back with his distinctive bass-rich, funk-filled vocals shaking the speakers and Mark 7even “verbally hanglides” like a lyrical ninja on this record, his flow in particular is witty, observant and innovative.

They revive a bygone era of hip hop, lino on street corners and jams in the park, “We’re not ballin’ or shot callin’, we take it back to the days of yes-yallin,’’ and it’s easy to forget that it appeared as late as 2003 when it fell into my CD changer (and stayed in until it broke - I think it’s still stuck). Aware as everyone was of Concrete Schoolyard, Power in Numbers was my real introduction to Jurassic 5’s work and what struck me was that there was something for everyone and for every occasion: concept songs for the thinkers, laid back sun kissed tracks, Hey and Freedom for lazy barbecues, lyrical agility for the hip hop heads and catchy jams to party to.

It hardly skips a beat, gliding from one track into the next skit or interlude. You can have it in the background and groove all the way through without noticing or necessarily caring which track is which.

Everyday’s a J5 day, and everyone’s a J5 fan, whether you know it yet or not, whack it on, drag out your shell toes and get down to some “soul music, something we can all relate to”.

Above: Wildin’ out at a live J5 gig

1. This Is

2. Freedom

3. If You Only Knew

4. Break

5. React

6. A Day At The Races

7. Remember His Name

8. What's Golden

9. Thin Line

10. After School Special

11. High Fidelity

12. Sum Of Us

13. DDT

14. One Of Them

15. Hey

16. I Am Somebody

17. Acetate Prophets

Jurassic 5 on MySpace